Code of ethics

Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies is a peer reviewed journal committed to the highest standards of publishing practices. The Ethical Code of Miscelánea is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. All parties involved in the publishing process (authors, journal editors, advisors, and referees) subscribe to the following standards of expected ethical behaviour.

Authorship

Manuscripts submitted for publication must be based on original, unpublished research.

No significant part of a submitted manuscript should have been previously published in any form or in another language, or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Authors should present their research honestly and truthfully, without undue manipulation of data. Authors are expected to be specific enough in describing the data, the methodology and in presenting their results and conclusions. They must supply enough information to allow any specialist to reproduce the research and confirm or refute the interpretations in the manuscript.

Authors must ensure that the data and results reported are original and have not been copied, falsified or manipulated. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal’s editor(s) and cooperate with them to either retract the paper or to publish an appropriate erratum.

As described in the journal guidelines, authors will have to participate in a peer review process and follow publication conventions.

Authors must inform the journal about any direct or indirect conflict of interest with editors or members of the Editorial Board or Board of Referees.

When an article is multiple-authored, all authors must give their consent to the publication of the text. The author listed as the corresponding author must have the express consent of the other author(s) and submit it to the journal editors if requested. The names of those who have actually contributed to the article should be listed according to the significance of their contributions: from most important (first position) to least important (last position). It must be ensured that only those who have made a relevant contribution to the work sign the paper. If there were researchers who have collaborated in the research or preparation of the text but are not listed as authors because their collaboration was minor, the author(s) should include an acknowledgement disclosing their full names.

Authors need to be transparent about the support received to carry out the research upon which their papers are based, indicating whether they received funding of any kind, any private or public services or media used, etc.

Authors must comply with copyright laws and conventions. Tables, figures or reproductions of others’ work should be reproduced only with permission and should be duly referenced.

Authors should clearly identify those parts of their research that are based on the work of others, including translations and adaptations of other texts, always citing the original.

Plagiarism in all its forms is considered scientific fraud and is unacceptable.

If such malpractice is detected, the journal reserves the right to remove the affected papers from its online archive, replacing the text of the article with a note explaining that the removed paper violated established academic and legal standards.

 

Editorship

All manuscripts received will be initially assessed by the journal’s Editorial Board, who is responsible for selecting, processing, and deciding which of the manuscripts submitted meet the journal scope and Editorial Policy and could thus be published. Each manuscript is sent to two independent peer reviewers, experts in their field, who will be able to assess the quality of the work and will do so anonymously. The Editorial Board is responsible for the final decision regarding whether or not the paper is accepted or rejected. Submitted manuscripts are evaluated for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, nationality or political philosophy of the authors.

Editors should withdraw from editorial decisions if they have conflicts of interest. The responsibility of the final decision regarding publication will be attributed to an editor who does not have any conflicts of interest.

Members of the Editorial Board are obliged to maintain confidentiality about the submitted manuscripts and its contents until they have been accepted for publication. Only then, their title and authorship may be communicated.

The Editorial Board will not use data, lines of reasoning or interpretations from unpublished works for their own research, except with the author’s own written consent.

The Editorial Board should decline reviewer reports that are of poor quality, improper, disrespectful or that are delivered after the agreed deadline.

The Editorial Board is not held responsible for the opinions expressed in the articles evaluated and/or published, nor do they necessarily share the opinions expressed therein.

Retraction policy

It is the Editorial Board’s responsibility to detect cases of misconduct and resolve them. They can work in conjunction with the members of the Board of Advisors and Board of Referees and experts in the field. The issue will be documented accordingly.

The Editorial Board will contact the author or publication involved, either the author submitting or another publication or author. The author will be given the opportunity to respond to or comment on the complaint, allegation, or dispute. Great care will be taken to distinguish cases of honest human error from deliberate intent to cheat.

In the event that misconduct has or seems to have occurred, or in the case of needed corrections, the Editorial Board deals with the different cases by following the appropriate COPE recommendations.

 

Reviewers

All reviewers must know and keep in mind the Editorial Policy and the Ethical Code and they should treat the submitted manuscripts confidentially. Peer review helps editors select suitable manuscripts and also allows authors to improve their contribution submitted for publication. Peer reviewers should do their best to provide a critical, honest, constructive and unbiased review of the anonymous manuscript assigned.

Reviewers are expected to evaluate the papers by the deadline established by the editors, using the principles provided by the journal and which refer to: appropriateness of the subject to the scope of this journal; overall originality or interest; relevance to present-day research in the area; development of a well-defined thesis; author’s awareness of previous research in this area; awareness of the theoretical aspects and implications of the topic; rigour in reasoning and analysis; precision in the use of specific concepts or methods; adequacy of the title; correct use of references; correct use of English; clarity and quality of style.

Reviewers are asked to inform the Editorial Board if they suspect of any assigned manuscript in which research misconduct* seems to have occurred. The Editorial Board will deal with each case accordingly, as stated above.

Reviewers shall withdraw in case of a perceived conflict of interest* with potential authors, or with the content of a manuscript.

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

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* We understand that there will be conflict of interest if:

• There is a direct relationship between an author and a reviewer or between an author and a member of the Editorial Board.
• There is recent, significant professional collaboration between reviewers and authors.
• An editor or reviewer is a collaborator on the manuscript that is being submitted.
• The editor or reviewer believes that they cannot be objective, whether due to personal, professional or other reasons.